anilnetto.comanilnetto.comThe journalism and other writings of Anil Netto - featuring real journalism in the cause of justice, freedom and solidarity Articles
50,000 Malaysians defy ban to demand electoral reforms
2007-11-11 02:44:00 Sea of yellow: They came in their thousands to get their point across - Photo credit: Seng Keat Tan So the chief of police puts the turnout at 4,000 in a report tucked away on page 8 of The Star. Interesting! But then he was probably referring to the crowd at Masjid Jamek alone, where police ... More About: Democracy , Civil society , Malaysian politics , Demand , Electoral
Penang Global City Centre: Activists step up campaign
2007-11-06 18:22:00 Activists have stepped up the campaign as the stakes rise. The developer has taken its PR blitz to the shopping malls, but activists have been meeting residents neighbouring the PGCC project site who are worried about the impact of the project. Here we see heritage conservationist Loh-Lim Lin Lee, architect Laurence Loh and heritage activist Dr ... More About: Environment , Global , Campaign , Penang , City
And so the PGCC PR battle begins?
2007-10-30 07:34:00 The PGCC developer has taken its road-show to Queensbay Mall Looks like the PR battle has begun. The Penang Global City Centre developers are on a road show promoting their project in Queensbay Mall and Gurney Plaza in Penang. Just received in the email the following hypothetical conversation between the pro-PGCC lobby and a member of the ... More About: Environment , Public Transport , Battle
Milan and Penang: Trams vs Monorail/PORR/PGCC
2007-10-28 02:18:00 Greetings from Milan ! I am here presenting a paper at a conference. Walking around the city, I must say I have been impressed with Milan’s excellent network of underground trains, trams (old and modern), buses and taxies - though locals tell me there is still room for improvement. But first, what’s this? Someone alerted me to ... More About: Environment , Penang , Public Transport , Pena
?It is people like Hishamudin who should be heading the judiciary?
2007-10-26 05:09:00 Justice Hishamudin has created waves with his decision to punish the government for its detention and torture of activist Abdul Malek Hussin. In the wake of his decision, some Malaysians are even suggesting that if the government really wants to restore the shine back to the judiciary, then judges like Hishamudin should be allowed to ... More About: People , Human Rights , Democracy , Accountability , Judiciary
It?s a PGCC jungle out there, folks!
2007-10-24 22:47:00 Here is one guy’s impression of what the PGCC would look like from Komtar. KL Dude has had a go on photo editor with the earlier picture of the PGCC Twin Towers posted on this blog; only this time he has actually added the 38 towers in front of those “iconic” towers. Perhaps his ... More About: Environment , Accountability , Jungle
It?s a home-grown resistance movement in Iraq
2007-10-23 20:56:00 The New York Times has finally admitted in an op-ed video - in contradiction to some of its own reports - what many of us already knew: that the US war in Iraq is largely against a determined home-grown resistance movement against Occupation (yes, the ‘O’ word). Check it out. More About: United States , Home , Militarism , Resistance
Now you can watch Fahmi Reza?s hartal film
2007-10-20 15:28:00 Go here to watch Fahmi Reza ’s outstanding film on the 1947 hartal - the winner of the 2007 Freedom Film Festival. It’s worth the watch. More About: Watch , Human Rights , Democracy
Surprise! Migrant workers from Malaysia remit more home
2007-10-20 07:48:00 While Malaysia ns tend to look down on neighbouring countries because their workers are forced to work abroad and remit money home, few of us realise that, as a percentage of GDP, migrant workers from Malaysia remit more home than those from Indonesia and Thailand. More About: Workers , Home , Poverty , Asean
Wanna peek into the future??
2007-10-18 04:09:00 From one sorry-looking tower to another two: This is what the PGCC will look like from Komtar - but please, please remember that there are going to be 38 other high-rise towers in front of the crooked twin towers! Just read a Star report that says Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon has rejected ’suggestions’ (I ... More About: Future , The Future , Democracy , Accountability , Peek
Why are we subsidising the profitable IPPs?
2007-10-16 05:44:00 Why are Malaysians - via Petronas - providing billion of ringgit in gas subsidies to the profitable IPPs? And yet, the government is always complaining it has to pay so much in fuel subsidies for the people. What about the gas subsidies to the IPPs? The owners of the IPPs are not exactly poor. ... More About: Profitable , Subs
Toh Kin Woon, the BN?s most principled politician
2007-10-12 04:19:00 I was glad to see the Malaysiakini interview with Toh Kin Woon and sorry to hear that he is retiring from politics soon. I would say Toh, the Gerakan vice-chairman and Penang state exco member, is the most principled politician in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. He has called for the abolition of the Internal Security ... More About: Christianity , Poverty , Accountability , Politician , Civil society
Public meetings for lamp-posts - but not for PGCC
2007-10-10 19:27:00 A few years ago, the government allocated funds to turn parts of the area around Jalan Kapitan Keling in Penang into a “Gold Bazaar”. According to Seri: …the Gold Bazaar was proposed by former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad after a trip to Dubai and upon being told that the majority of the jewellery on display were ... More About: Environment , Public , Democracy , Accountability , Meetings
Amidst the judicial shambles, a stunning Federal Court decision
2007-10-09 17:59:00 All that bad news about the judiciary and the shambles it is in. Yet, amidst the uproar and outrage (and rightfully so) over the Lingam tape, there was much cause for rejoicing especially in Sarawak: a sweet victory for natives over the Sarawak state government on the issue of native customary rights, courtesy of a ... More About: Decision , Stunning , Judiciary , Judicial , Court
Guitarist-singer Alfred Ho turns to blogging, opposition politics
2007-10-08 18:22:00 Just received the following in the mail: Dear Anil, Allow me to introduce myself. I am a blind individual in my 50s, and a singer, guitarist by profession. Just like yourself and many other right-thinking Malaysians, I am truly fed up of the Barisan government what, with their many unjust policies. Needless to say, their corrupt ... More About: Politics , Blogging , Singer , Guitarist , Alfred
Penangites fume over PGCC deception at packed forum
2007-10-07 17:06:00 Angry and disgusted: Strong views from Pena ngites. Before the public forum this morning, organisers in the PGCC Campaign Group, a network of activists representing close to a dozen Penang-based NGOs, were privately fretting over whether they would get a decent turnout at the seminar rooms of the Dewan Sri Pinang. They needn’t have worried. Close to 300 ... More About: Forum , Deception
PGCC and the “National Policy on the Environment”
2007-10-06 18:00:00 A reader has alerted me to a creature known as the National Policy on the Envi ronment . It can be found on the Mida website. Just one question: do you think the PGCC complies with it - especially the bit about “ensuring the highest commitment to environmental protection and accountability by all decision-makers in the public and ... More About: The Environment
PGCC: Now you don’t see it…
2007-10-05 16:53:00 The Penang Turf Club land as it stands now (without the Penang Global City Centre) in the distance as seen from Komtar.
Angry Penangites speak out against PGCC
2007-10-04 18:42:00 Sentiment against the PGCC is clearly running high, judging from the angry and disgusted comments I have been receiving from concerned Pena ngites. Here’s a sample of comments: Regarding the sale of the Turf Club land: What exactly was the role, if any, of the Penang Development Corporation in the sale of the land? How did rank outsider Patrick Lim ... More About: Angry , Speak
Aliran Monthly contributor John Hilley arrested near Glasgow
2007-10-03 17:28:00 The Glasgow -based political scientist and activist, John Hilley, who writes on global justice issues for Aliran Mont h ly, was among over 170 peaceful protesters arrested in Faslane, 25 miles from Glasgow, on 1 Oct 2007, at the culmination of a year-long protest against the siting of Trident missiles at a naval base there. He tells me ... More About: Arrested
Have the generals won in Burma?
2007-10-01 17:53:00 So thousands of heavily armed soldiers are patrolling the streets of the Burmese capital, Rangoon, forcing the peaceful protesters off the streets. Have the hopes and prayers for democracy in Burma been totally crushed? Have the pro-democracy protesters been defeated? Not by a long shot. When a government resorts to bullets and clubs to suppress peaceful demonstrators, you ... More About: Human Rights , Democracy , Global justice movement , Asean
SXI: Brother Charles Levin?s legacy
2007-09-30 16:29:00 From the corridor, I spotted a tall solitary figure strolling in the school courtyard in the evening light. For one moment, it felt as if I had been transported back in time. The setting looked familiar - though there seemed to be a lot more potted plants and greenery around. “Brother Charles !” I called out. He spun ... More About: Christianity , Legacy , Levin
PGCC: It?s 40 towers, not 37
2007-09-29 17:32:00 So the latest count is 40 towers of more than 10 storeys each, higher than our earlier estimate of 37 towers. This is the count, based on the building plan. Download the plan below by clicking on the link and note the 5-storey podiums for car parks in this “zero-carbon” city. PGCC building plan More About: Environment , Accountability
PGCC: There go the angsana trees
2007-09-28 13:14:00 My sources tell me that the PGCC developer’s consultants said yesterday they would avoid cutting down the trees along Scotland Road but admitted that some angsana trees would have to make way for the road widening/flyover work, especially near the Jalan Batu Gantong junction, to cope with the extra traffic anticipated. These trees are actually heritage ... More About: Environment , Trees , Rees
Lawyers? march, Burma?s struggle, PGCC campaign all related
2007-09-26 16:31:00 This is a more realistic miniature model of what the PGCC will look like - Awful! What do the lawyers marching in Putrajaya, the ordinary people struggling for democracy in Burma and those campaigning against the Penang Global City Centre Project have in common? They are all part of the global justice movement, trying to create a ... More About: Environment , Lawyers , Human Rights , Campaign , Democracy
Malaysians, Burmese march for democracy
2007-09-25 17:55:00 Monks have been leading tens of thousands of people as protests rock Burma People are on the march in both Malaysia and Burma in their quest for justice and freedom. The Malaysian Bar Council is organising a march of lawyers from the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya to the Prime Minister’s Office in the morning of 26 ... More About: Human Rights , Poverty , Democracy , Global justice movement , Judiciary
PGCC and CGCC
2007-09-24 17:59:00 Well, you all know what PGCC is by now - the massive RM25 billion Penang Greenwash… err, I mean Global… City Centre project. And CGCC? That’s Catastrophic Global Climate Change. If we go ahead with PGCC, it would only add to CGCC. If you are not convinced that building 37 “tombstones” (high-rise towers) on the Penang Turf Club ... More About: Media , Environment
Migrant workers vs expatriates - Our double standards
2007-09-23 17:58:00 Today, I dropped by to check out the Migrants Sunday celebrations organised by the Migrant Workers Support Centre on mainland Penang. As I looked around at the gathering of workers from Burma, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, I couldn’t help thinking about the double standards we practise when we think of foreign workers. Let’s look at some ... More About: Standards , Double , Human Rights , Double Standards
Fahmi Reza?s outstanding film on the 1947 hartal
2007-09-22 06:25:00 Remember the name - Fahmi Reza , the worthy winner of the Freedom Film Festival 2007. Last night I headed for the opening day’s screenings at the Actors’ Studio in Penang, mainly to see Fahmi’s “Sepuluh tahun sebelum Merdeka” - and I was not disappointed. It was the best local political documentary I had seen. The ... More About: Outstanding
Malaysian judiciary hits rock bottom
More articles from this author:2007-09-20 12:01:00 Well, say no more! As my academic friend observes: …this is a sterling opportunity to draw out the oligarchic control of this country — a chance to pull away from the ethnic ding-dong that’s going on. Here is the oligarchy of wealth and privilege: an Indian lawyer, a Chinese tycoon, a Malay judge, ... More About: Malaysian , Rock , Democracy , Accountability , Judiciary 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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